F1 height record to be broken when Nyck de Vries joins AlphaTauri for 2023

Nyck de Vries was forced to bide his time before finally landing a full-time F1 seat.

Winning the Formula 2 title, as he did in 2019, usually ensures a first-class ticket to motorsport’s top table, but the Dutchman has been made to wait.

He moved to Formula E, winning the all-electric series in 2021, but it still seemed that wouldn’t be enough, despite practice run-outs for Williams, Mercedes and Aston Martin this season. However, De Vries catapulted himself into race seat contention with his superb drive to ninth with Williams after being called up as late replacement for the ill Alex Albon at the Italian Grand Prix.

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That triggered a battle for his services, with De Vries being linked with Alpine and Williams before AlphaTauri snared the 27-year-old, who will replace Alpine-bound Pierre Gasly in the Red Bull sister team.

Having waited so long to get on the grid, De Vries will quickly make F1 history when he teams up with Yuki Tsunoda. The pair will become the sport’s shortest driver line-up ever, according to Sky Sports F1’s pitlane report Ted Kravitz, undercutting Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato, who raced for Super Aguri before the Japanese team pulled out of the sport in the middle of 2008.

De Vries, at 1.67m (5ft5), is the 'giant' of the quartet with Tsunoda the shortest at 1.59m (5ft3). Davidson and Sato, at 1.66m and 1.64m respectively, were more closely matched in the height department.

What's your favourite F1 driver line-up of all time? Tell us in the comments section below.

For now, De Vries remains on the books of Mercedes, where he is a test and reserve driver. But he is relishing linking with AlphaTauri, where he will work closely with friend and Red Bull’s lead driver, Max Verstappen.

On finally landing a seat in F1, De Vries said: “I’m extremely excited to be joining Scuderia AlphaTauri for 2023 and I want to thank both Red Bull and the team for giving me the opportunity to drive in F1.

“After Formula 2, I took a slightly different path with motorsport, but F1 has always been my dream and I’m grateful to be able to fulfil it. I’ve had a lot of chances to experience the 2022 car this year and I think that has put me in a great position for the upcoming season, I hope this has helped to prepare me for what is to come.”

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